Starter for Ten
by felix-felicis33
Summary: It's Cambridge versus Oxford in the finals of University Challenge, and Kurt is determined that his team is going to win. He's worked too hard to lose now. Plus he has his own personal battle with rival team captain Blaine Anderson to think of. Blaine may be cute, but that won't stop Kurt from fighting him for the trophy.
1. Chapter 1

When the day arrived Kurt was both relieved and sick with nerves. He had been studying and preparing for this day for weeks – _months_ – now and he was as ready for it as he could ever be. Over the course of his preparations he'd watched as many documentaries as he could, read dozens of books on history, philosophy, and art, and had studied countless random articles on Wikipedia. After the hours upon hours spent practicing and studying with his teammates, he was looking forward to getting a break from them when the day was over. He'd lost count of the number of arguments he'd either been involved in or had stopped during the time they'd spent together. He just hoped all of his efforts wouldn't be for nothing.

He hadn't really thought much of _University Challenge_ before he'd started studying at Cambridge, but after hearing a lot about it during his first year and growing to respect the commitment and intelligence of all of those taking part, he'd decided to try-out for the team in his second year. He'd been delighted when he'd learned he'd made the team, and astounded when he was declared the captain after gaining the highest score in the try-outs. It gave him a real sense of satisfaction when his team sailed through the early rounds of the competition, beating team after team. And now they had made it to the final, where their intelligence and dedication would be put to the ultimate test. It had taken a lot of stress, effort, tears, and frustration to get there, but Kurt felt it was all worth it when he saw how proud his dad was of him. All of the difficult days meant nothing.

He felt sick and shaky with nerves as he and his three teammates walked up to the television studios where the show was being filmed. Next to him, Laura looked pale and strained, while Michael and Jemma were anxiously discussing potential questions and the probability of them beating the rival team. Kurt did his best to ignore their mutterings, not wanting them to knock his confidence.

He caught a glimpse of their rivals once they were inside. The Oxford College team were huddled near the narrow corridor leading to the set, talking in low voices. Kurt only got a fleeting look at them, before he and his team were whisked off to make-up.

He'd heard a lot about the Oxford team over the course of the competition. He knew they'd beaten the formidable Manchester team in their semi-final and that they were more balanced in terms of fields of study compared to his own team. He was even more familiar with their team captain: a charming and handsome music major.

He'd met Blaine Anderson twice before: once at an inter-university quiz that was a warm-up to _University Challenge_ where they competed as individuals rather than in teams, and secondly at an Oxbridge charity quiz event where they had to answer increasingly difficult questions in knockout rounds in order to win money for a chosen charity. They had been rivals for the top spot at both events. Blaine had beaten him at the warm-up event, while Kurt had come out on top at the charity quiz. Today was their final match in their personal best of three, and Kurt was determined to win.

While a make-up artist flitted around him applying a little make-up to his face so he didn't look strange or washed-out by the bright lights or cameras, Kurt tried to remember everything he could about the British monarchy and wondered whether last-minute recalling of information was beneficial or if it just stressed him out. He never did it for exams, but this was different.

Once their make-up was done his team sat on some couches grouped around a table in the corner of the room. Kurt attempted to give a motivational speech to rally them all up, but he was so focused on the task ahead and his mind was so busy flipping through everything he knew, that he wasn't sure how well he did. In the end, he gave up and wished them all luck, asking them to do their best. There wasn't much else he could do.

They sat in silence after that, everyone staring off in a different direction with a look of intense concentration on their face. Kurt tried to remain focussed, but his thoughts kept slipping to how much he wanted to beat Blaine, and he found himself imagining what he'd say to him once he did win. He mentally shook himself, pushing Blaine to the back of his mind. Determination to win was important in the competition, but it could also be his downfall if he wasn't careful.

Eventually, there was a knock at the door and a woman stuck her head inside.

"It's time," she said, giving them an encouraging smile when all four of them immediately lurched to their feet.

Swallowing around his suddenly dry throat, Kurt led his teammates out the room on shaky legs and followed the woman along a series of corridors leading to the set. He took a deep, steadying breath when the gap in the partition walls came into view. Through it he could see a small slice of the audience who would be watching the taping of the competition. The woman stopped by this gap and waved them to continue on out onto the set. Kurt fixed a smile on his face and stepped past her.

Half of the audience cheered when Kurt and his team walked out onto the set. Kurt smiled tightly and nodded to the Cambridge supporters as he led the way onto the small stage where he and his teammates lined up in front of the desk behind which they would be sitting in a few minutes. As the applause died down, Kurt fixed his gaze on the gap he'd just walked through, waiting for the arrival of the Oxford team. He only had to wait a few moments and then Blaine appeared, looking calm and confident as always, smiling and giving his supporters a small wave.

Kurt barely heard the cheers from the crowd; he was too focused on Blaine. His hair was neatly gelled down and he was dressed in well-fitting pants and one of his trademark bowties. He looked like a cross between a hot professor and a member of a hipster indie band. Kurt hated the way his stomach lurched and pulse quickened at the sight of him.

Blaine's smile widened when his gaze landed on the Cambridge team. The applause began to die down as Blaine's teammates – two guys around Kurt and Blaine's age and a man in his early thirties – made their way along the line of their competitors, shaking hands with Kurt and his teammates. Blaine was last to come down the line. Kurt stood tense and tight-lipped, watching Blaine out the corner of his eye until he was standing in front of him and sliding his hand into his own. He held his breath as their eyes met.

Something shifted behind Blaine's hazel eyes and his charming smile slipped for just the briefest of seconds, his mouth softening around the edges, until the polite smile was back, as bright and warm as ever.

"Hummel," Blaine said softly, squeezing Kurt's hand.

Kurt's heart stuttered in his chest. "Anderson," he greeted quietly.

They stood there for a moment, eyes locked, hands clasped in a handshake that should have already ended, and Kurt was lost in Blaine's large, honey-gold eyes and the comforting warmth of his hand in his own, all thoughts of the competition ahead momentarily forgotten.

A light flickered overhead as someone adjusted it and the moment was broken. Kurt breathed again and Blaine's gaze dropped away. They let go of each other's hands and Blaine moved away to join his teammates where they were sitting down behind the Oxford desk.

Kurt found himself watching him go, standing alone in front of the Cambridge desk watching Blaine's retreating back. He gave his head a little shake to clear it of the thoughts now lingering in his mind and moved to take his seat by his teammates. Laura shot him a questioning look as he sat down and Kurt smiled at her, trying to convey focus and being prepared in spite of his scrambled thoughts.

He couldn't believe Blaine was able to invade his mind on today of all days. He'd managed to get through two other meetings with him without his stupid hormones taking over, but for some reason on the most important of their encounters his intelligence and hours of preparation were being threatened by his wandering eyes, cartwheeling heart, and hormone-flooded brain. And all because Blaine Anderson had pretty eyes and a nice smile.

The audience applauded again, louder this time as they all clapped as a collective mass rather than two separate halves. Kurt looked up to see the host of the show, Nigel Wakefield, walk onto the stage. The sight of him pushed thoughts of Blaine a little deeper into the back of Kurt's mind as a fresh wave of nerves flooded through him, twisting his stomach and stuttering his heartbeat. Nigel shook hands with all of the competitors before taking his seat behind his desk. Kurt's eyes were drawn to the stack of question cards Nigel set out in front of him on the desk; out the corner of his eye he saw Laura let out a deep, steadying breath. He reminded himself to breathe, too.

Before he could stop himself, Kurt shot a quick look across at the Oxford team. Three of the team were looking a mixture of nervous and determined as they watched the TV crew dash about and get the last few things set up for filming, while Blaine was smiling pleasantly at Nigel, looking as relaxed as if he were at some form of informal social gathering. A tiny twinge of annoyance flickered through Kurt at the sight. He didn't understand how Blaine could look so cool and collected all of the time.

Someone called out that filming was about to start and Kurt felt the nerves churning and cramping in an unpleasant sick feeling in his stomach kick up a notch. With a shaky hand, he reached for his glass of water and took a sip in an effort to settle his stomach. As he set the glass back down, he focused on schooling his features into a calm, earnest expression. A voice began to count them all down to when the cameras would start rolling. Kurt smiled in the direction of the host and waited, his palms sweating and his heart pounding. He sucked in a shaky breath.

"Welcome to the final of the 2015 _University Challenge_!" Nigel said once the audience's applause had died down. "Over the last few months, teams from universities around the country have battled it out to be named champion. Tonight, the final two teams will compete once more to determine who will be our winners for this year." He looked away from the camera to face the two teams of students facing him. Kurt's stomach churned.

"Trinity College Cambridge and Somerville College Oxford have made it through to the finals after both teams sailed through their semi-finals undefeated. Let's meet them one last time."

One of the crew gestured to a member of the Oxford team and a camera rolled round to point at him. He introduced himself to the camera as they all had to do at the beginning of every round of the competition, giving their name, where they were from, and what they were studying. When it was Blaine's turn he smiled brightly at the camera, oozing charm and confidence.

"Hi, I'm Blaine Anderson, I'm from Guildford, and I'm studying music."

Kurt rehearsed his introduction in his head as he waited for the final Oxford person and two of his own teammates to say their piece. He knew he didn't have to say anything complicated, but he was so nervous he wouldn't be surprised if he fumbled his words.

He took a deep breath as the camera panned over to him.

"I'm Kurt Hummel, I'm from Sevenoaks, and I'm studying English Literature," he said, smiling at the camera. He tried not to sigh too loudly in relief as Jemma finished the introductions off.

"I think we are all familiar with the rules by now, so I won't go over them again," Nigel said, picking up his question cards and lowering his eyes to the top one. Kurt's gaze flickered over to Blaine once more to see his finger already hovering over his buzzer, his face set with concentration. Kurt rested his hand on the desk, holding his fingers just above his own buzzer.

"So, fingers on buzzers, everyone. Here's your first starter question for ten points: What is the name of the gaps on a neuron axon where no myelin is present?"

There was only the very briefest of pauses after the question was read out before a buzzer rang through the studio.

"Somerville, Anderson!" the overhead announcer called out.

"The nodes of Ranvier," Blaine answered.

Nigel nodded, already setting the question card aside. "Correct! Somerville, your bonuses are on pairs of people who share a given name and surname. In each case, give the full name from the descriptions."

Gritting his teeth, Kurt shifted restlessly in his chair. He hadn't known the answer to the starter question – science wasn't really his forte – but that didn't stop him from being annoyed that Blaine and his team had jumped from the starting blocks, while his team would stumble belatedly after them. He tried not to glower across at the Oxford team as they easily answered the three bonus questions correctly. His eyes narrowed with concentration as Nigel read out the next starter question.

"Chief of the Eleatic school of philosophy, what Greek philosopher demonstrated that the senses could not be trusted by constructing four paradoxes, including the Achilles and tortoise problems?"

Kurt gave an odd, jerky lurch. He'd read about that somewhere; he recognised it. He searched frantically through the deep recesses of his mind, trying to extract the piece of information he needed, his finger quivering over his buzzer.

Before he could remember, one of the Oxford team buzzed in. He bit back a frustrated groan when they gave the correct answer, triggering all of his own knowledge on the subject to come gushing to the forefront of his mind. He turned to watch the Oxford team answer their bonus questions. His stomach gave another lurch at the sight of Blaine leaning over to say something quietly to one of his teammates – from the angle Kurt was sitting at it looked as though Blaine was whispering in the guy's ear. Kurt swallowed, watching as Blaine gave three more correct answers, a pleased smile crossing his face when Nigel confirmed each one as being right.

"Here's your next starter for ten: Identify the author of these lines: 'Come live with me, and be my love, / And we will some new pleasures prove / Of golden sands, and crystal brooks, / With silken lines, and silver hooks'?"

Kurt's hand slapped down on his buzzer, blood rushing behind his ears as the sound rang through the studio.

"Trinity, Hummel!"

"John Donne," Kurt blurted out, already beginning to doubt himself and praying he was right. He fought with the urge to look round at his teammates or Blaine, forcing himself to look straight ahead at the host as he nodded his head and set the question card aside.

"Correct!"

As the competition continued and Kurt and his teammates answered a few more questions, pulling their score up to almost level with Oxford's, the cramping in Kurt's stomach eased up. It was always like this for him: his nerves lessened and he became more confident as he got into the swing of things. It was the same when he was writing essays or sitting an exam.

"We're going to take a music round now," Nigel announced, shifting in his chair, his gaze flicking between the two teams. "For this you'll hear a piece of classical music – I want you to name the composer and the title of the piece."

Kurt couldn't help it; his head turned and he looked over at Blaine. Blaine was the only player studying music – this round would be a walk in the park for him. As he watched, Blaine sat up a little straighter, a tiny smile on his face, confident to the point where he appeared to be looking forward to hearing what the music would be.

Dragging his gaze away from Blaine, Kurt narrowed his eyes in concentration, trying to remember all of the pieces of classical music he'd ever listened to. He liked to listen to classical music while studying, the lack of lyrics meaning his attention wasn't pulled from his notes to sing along, but he wasn't sure if he could name any of the songs he'd listened to, or if he could remember the composers. He didn't allow this to suck all the drive out of him, though. He wasn't going to let Blaine's confidence shatter his own. He could still answer the question.

The piece of music began to play through the speakers, lively violins dominating the score. Recognition had only just begun to tickle at Kurt's brain when a buzzer sounded. The clip hadn't been playing for more than a few seconds.

"Somerville, Anderson!"

"That's Vivaldi's 'La Primavera'," Blaine answered, his satisfaction evident in his tone.

Nigel nodded, setting his question card aside. "Correct!"

The audience applauded and Kurt turned to look at the Oxford team somewhat reluctantly. He didn't particularly want to watch his competition easily gain another fifteen points, but he was drawn to Blaine like a moth to a bright lamp; he had very little control over his wandering gaze, drifting over to Blaine every now and then, like he was some unusual, intriguing sight he'd been forbidden to look at.

"Somerville, for your bonuses you'll hear three more pieces of classical music: I want you to give me the name of the composer of each."

The music clips played and Blaine rattled off the composer's name for each one while the rest of his team smiled, pleased. Mere seconds after each clip began to play, Blaine leaned over to quietly discuss his answer with his teammates, a polite gesture that Kurt knew he needn't bother with; Blaine was right and they all knew it.

"Don't make it look too easy," Nigel quipped dryly after confirming Blaine's answer for the last bonus question was correct.

The audience tittered and Blaine smiled gently, ducking his head from the stares of the dozens of audience members and the camera lenses trained on him. For the first time since filming began he looked a little shy. Kurt was reminded of how Blaine had been polite and bashful after winning the warm-up competition, not boasting or shoving the win in competitor's faces like Kurt had seen others do. Blaine seemed to know he was intelligent and talented and didn't mind showing his skills off, but once people started fawning over this he turned likeably modest and appeared slightly overwhelmed. Kurt, meanwhile, had shot Blaine a sanctimonious grin and smug little nod when he'd beaten him. The memory made his cheeks heat up in embarrassment and insides curl in shame.

The rest of the competition passed by in a blur of questions, discussion of answers, and frantic slapping of buzzers. Once or twice, Kurt forgot there was an audience watching them and was momentarily surprised when he slipped out of his zone of concentration long enough to hear them applaud. He answered several more questions correctly, but lost track of the scores. He knew it was a tight race, though.

"Two minutes remaining," Nigel informed them. Kurt's pulse jumped and he tensed in his seat, every muscle straining in concentration. "Answer as soon as your name is called, please. The psychologist Raymond Cattell identified 'fluid' and 'crystallised' as factors of what human capacity, defined by one authority as the extent to which one deals "flexibly and effectively with practical and theoretical problems"?"

Kurt's hand slapped down onto his buzzer before his conscious mind had even caught up with the answer that had leaped forward in his brain. He vaguely heard the guy doing the voiceover calling out his name in his scramble to say his answer out loud.

"It's intelligence," he said quickly, somehow managing to avoid stumbling over his words. He wanted the time for his team to answer as many questions as they could, just in case they were the ones lagging behind in this tight battle.

"Correct. Trinity, your bonuses are on physics."

They only got two of the bonus questions correct, but Kurt hastily shoved down his disappointment with the knowledge that they had earned twenty more points they hadn't had a minute ago. He leaned forward, staring intently at Nigel as he read out another starter question, as if he could know the question quicker by watching him as opposed to listening. To his delight, Jemma got the question correct, but before they could get their bonus questions the gong sounded, signalling the end of the competition.

Applause and cheers filled the studio, while the teams remained still and tense, waiting for the final result to be revealed.

"And that's the end! The final result is Trinity Cambridge with 210 points and Somerville Oxford with 220 points."

The applause and cheers turned to an odd buzzing sound as exhaustion flooded Kurt's body. He slumped back in his chair, his hand falling to the desk with a soft thump. He let his eyes fall closed for a moment as disappointment crashed into his system, a spark of frustration twinging through with it until it was snuffed out soon afterwards. His eyes opened. On either side of him his teammates were just as dejected and worn-out: Michael had his head in his hands, his fingers fisting tufts of his hair, looking like he was internally screaming, and Laura and Jemma were slumped in their chairs. Despite not particularly wanting to, Kurt looked over at the Oxford team.

They were triumphant – jubilant. One had his hands covering his face as he leaned back in his chair, a huge smile visible beneath his parted fingers. Another looked to be in stunned shock, waving a shaking hand in the air as he stammered something to his teammate, who was patting a beaming Blaine on the back. Kurt couldn't stop a small smile from tugging at the corner of his mouth at the sight.

As if sensing his gaze on him, Blaine looked away from his team and over to Kurt. His delighted expression shifted to one of apology. Kurt smiled and lifted his shoulders in a small shrug of acceptance; Blaine's team had deserved to win.

At some point the presenter of the trophy was announced, but Kurt didn't hear their name. His head was filled with an odd ringing sound and his emotions were shifting and swirling around inside him so rapidly that he felt disoriented, unsure exactly what he was feeling or why.

Both teams stood up and Kurt automatically got to his feet, robotically following Laura out from behind the desk to stand in front of it. The Oxford team came over and shook all of their hands again, Kurt murmuring his congratulations to each one of them. When Blaine took his hand his breath froze in his lungs, his congratulations catching in his throat. Blaine's eyes were soft when they met Kurt's and he gave him another apologetic smile, as though he were truly sorry he had beaten Kurt's team. Kurt shrugged at him again, a 'what can you do?' sort of gesture. Blaine's lips parted as if he were about to say something, but before he could one of his teammates stepped closer, wanting to continue moving along the line of Cambridge competitors. After one last almost desperate look at Kurt, Blaine was forced to move away.

Once all the competitors had shaken hands, a woman walked out onto the stage carrying the impressive trophy shaped like a large, open book.

Something was announced through the overhead speakers, but Kurt, staring at Blaine accepting the trophy and clapping along with his team, missed what was said. Blaine said something to the woman as she shook his hand and she beamed fondly at him. The rest of the Oxford team then shook hands with the woman, before gathering around Blaine and the trophy to pose for the cameras. Kurt's hand went numb with clapping.

They were ushered back to their dressing room afterwards. Kurt's teammates weren't keen on hanging around in front of their disappointed supporters, so as soon as the cameras stopped rolling and Nigel had finished speaking to them, Kurt followed them back to the tiny dressing room. None of them had spoken since they'd sat down and though Kurt knew he should probably say something, he couldn't find words that weren't falsely cheery or cliché. Laura and Michael were on their phones while Jemma stared stonily at the wall opposite her. The silence was deafening.

Kurt sat there until he could bear it no longer. He got to his feet.

"I'll be back in a bit," he said to the room at large as he opened the door.

No one responded.

Once out in the narrow corridor, Kurt pulled his phone out of his pocket. He'd promised to call his dad as soon as the competition was over since he was unable to take the time away from work to come and watch. Though he knew his dad would still be immensely proud of him, Kurt wasn't looking forward to telling him they had lost.

Stepping around some disused lighting equipment and some old storage trunks, Kurt found a quiet spot backstage of the set he'd just been on. On the other side of the crates and wall he could hear the faint sounds of crew members tidying away the set. Sliding to the floor and leaning back against a tall crate, he dialled his dad's number.

"Kurt!" his dad answered on the second ring, sounding breathless and excited. "How did it go?"

Kurt picked at a fold in the fabric of his pants. "We lost, dad."

There was silence from the other end of the line and Kurt waited for the initial disappointment to pass through his dad.

"Never mind, son," his dad said softly. "I know you had your heart set on winning today, but you've still achieved so much – you still got to the final – look how many teams you beat to get there! That's nothing to brush off." He paused for a brief moment. "I'm sure you made that other team fight hard for their title."

Kurt stopped picking at his pants and let his hand rest still on his thigh. "They beat us by ten points."

"Isn't that only one question? You should be proud of that result, Kurt. One of you had to be the losing team today and it's just unlucky that it was yours."

Kurt nodded. "I know." He knew these words would make him feel better about today's result later, but at that moment he was too tired and disappointed to appreciate them.

"I'm proud of you, Kurt. We're still going out to celebrate when you get home."

Kurt managed a small smile even though he knew his dad couldn't see. "Thanks, dad."

"I'd better get back to work. Don't beat yourself up about this, Kurt, okay?"

"I won't," Kurt promised. "I just need some time."

"I love you, Kurt."

"Love you, too, dad."

Kurt hung up and set his phone in his lap, letting his head fall back against the crate he was leaning against. He knew he should probably head back and join his teammates so they could start getting ready to leave, but he didn't want to move just yet. It was quiet and peaceful in amongst the old set equipment, and he wanted to be alone with his thoughts for a bit.

He'd barely been sitting there for a minute when he heard soft footsteps approaching. Scrambling to his feet, he debated about sneaking away before whoever it was found him (he wasn't entirely sure he was allowed to be back here), before deciding he would just tell the truth if he got told off. He held his breath as the footsteps got louder – and blinked in surprise when Blaine stepped into view from behind one of the tall storage crates.

"Hi," Blaine said quietly, stopping a few feet in front of Kurt.

Kurt stared at him, waiting for some explanation as to why he was here, not about to believe Blaine had just stumbled across him, hidden away amongst old trunks and lights, by accident. When Blaine said nothing, only continued to look at him in a way that had his pulse fluttering like a tiny, trapped bird, Kurt raised an inquiring eyebrow at him.

"How did you find me?"

Blaine dropped his gaze to the floor, his expression immediately turning guilty. A deep pink blush bloomed across his cheeks. "I followed you here," he admitted to his feet. He toed at a rusty old nail that lay by his right foot. "I wanted to talk to you. I went to your dressing room, but I saw you heading this way, so I followed you." He frowned down at the nail. "I shouldn't have done it; it was rude, I'm sorry."

Kurt wasn't really sure what to say in response to that, so he watched the blush fading from Blaine's face, waiting for him to explain why he was here.

"I'm sorry you lost," Blaine said eventually. He looked up to meet Kurt's gaze. "I wanted to win, but at the same time, I didn't want you to lose; your team is fantastic."

A small flutter of nerves twisted in Kurt's stomach when their eyes met and Kurt swallowed, nodding his head once in acknowledgement. He wasn't really sure what to say to that, either.

"Shouldn't you be celebrating?" Kurt asked after another slightly awkward pause. He didn't understand why Blaine was standing here blushing and fumbling his words when he could be celebrating his victory with his teammates.

For some reason, Blaine blushed again and ducked his head in a gesture Kurt found completely adorable. With the tense, competitive atmosphere surrounding them every time they'd been together, Kurt often forgot how beautiful Blaine really was. He took in Blaine's appearance with appraising eyes: long, thick eyelashes, pretty hazel eyes, full pink lips, soft dark hair curling free of gel at the back of his neck, muscular arms, and a tiny waist. Blaine was breathtakingly beautiful.

Mentally shaking these thoughts from his head, Kurt realised Blaine hadn't responded to his question. He was starting to get a little impatient.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked, hoping Blaine would stop dancing around the reason he was here.

Blaine looked up again, the blush still dark on his cheeks. He hesitated, teeth peeking out to bite down on his bottom lip, before he spoke.

"Ever since I first heard about you during the early preparation stages for this competition I've been fascinated by you," Blaine admitted, twisting the hem of his cardigan with his right hand. He didn't look at Kurt while he spoke, keeping his eyes fixed on a point somewhere behind Kurt's right shoulder instead. "You sounded so intelligent and eloquent – a formidable opponent for the competition." Blaine's gaze flicked to Kurt's face for a brief moment. "Back then I just wanted to meet you because I wanted to compete against you." Blaine's blush darkened further and he looked away again. "But then I met you…"

Kurt cocked his head to the side as Blaine twisted a handful of his cardigan in his hand. It was slowly beginning to dawn on him that Blaine may actually admire him, or his intelligence and abilities anyway. However, there was also another possibility niggling at him, one that was far less flattering.

Blaine inhaled deeply. "I know we only spoke very briefly at that first competition and I know the setting wasn't ideal, but I came away from it even more fascinated by you. You were just as quick and intelligent and witty as I'd heard, but you were also…" Blaine's eyes met Kurt's. "I couldn't stop thinking about you. I wanted to get to know you so badly – I still do. I really want to see you outside of these competitions, get to know you better, become friends."

Kurt narrowed his eyes at him, his suspicion peaking. "You want to get to know me so you can improve your chances at the competitions! So you can beat me more-"

Blaine's hand covered Kurt's mouth, effectively cutting him off. Kurt glared at him and Blaine shook his head, his eyes soft and a little sad. "No," he said quietly. "That's not it at all."

He removed his hand and Kurt stared at him in confusion, his anger fading as quickly as it had flared up. "Then why-?"

For a moment, Blaine nibbled on his bottom lip and plucked at his cardigan, and then he sighed softly and released the material bunched in his fist. "I want to get to know you because I think you are fascinating and beautiful."

"Oh." A hot blush to rival the one darkening Blaine's face flared up on Kurt's cheeks. He couldn't quite process Blaine's admittance in his head; he couldn't believe Blaine felt that way about _him_.

Blaine took a step closer to him, his eyes a darker gold, the pupils dilated. His gaze flickered down to Kurt's mouth and then back up again. Kurt swallowed, his heart racing.

Kurt felt his whole body quiver when Blaine's lips pressed against his own. His heart had kicked into overdrive, now thumping so rapidly blood rushed behind his ears in a dull roar of white noise that faded into the background of what started as a mad gallop of thoughts tripping each other up that fell away to blissful nothingness when Blaine's hands framed Kurt's face, resting gently on his jaw and cheeks. Spurred on by Kurt's lips moving against his own, Blaine kissed him harder, his lips parting to suck Kurt's top lip into his mouth.

Had anyone brought up the subject of kissing Blaine earlier that day, Kurt wouldn't have been able to understand the appeal beyond Blaine being nice to look at. Now, however, he couldn't find a reason _not_ to want kiss him, and all of his muddled thoughts and feelings of the day and weeks before all fell into place. He _liked_ Blaine – really liked him. He was intelligent, charming, sweet, beautiful, and – like Blaine had said – he wanted to get to know him better; he wanted to get to know him away from the competitions and questions on art history and astrophysics. He wanted to know the _real_ Blaine.

They broke apart, gasping for breath. Kurt's legs wobbled a little beneath him as he became aware of his racing heart and soaring emotions again. He held Blaine's gaze, everything that he'd been pushing down inside himself for months and everything that had just happened in the cluttered backstage area where he and Blaine stood pulsing through him with every heartbeat, leaving him feeling breathless and euphoric. He smiled at Blaine, his heart skipping a beat when he smiled back, his eyes a warm honey lit up with flecks of bright gold. As they held each other's gaze, Blaine's eyes softened. His hand came back up to caress Kurt's face, his light touch sending a shiver down Kurt's spine.

"I want to get to know you because of you," he murmured, his thumb tracing the curve of Kurt's cheekbone. "Because of you," he repeated.

Their mouths met in another kiss, a tender slide of lips and soft caressing of hands. Kurt smiled into the kiss, the last vestiges of disappointment at losing the competition melting away. None of that really mattered anymore. Like his dad had said: he'd captained a team to the final and that was an impressive feat. There was no point in bemoaning being the runner-up when there were much more important things happening, such as Blaine entering his life. Blaine, whom he'd be going on coffee dates with, whom he'd get to lie awake talking into the early hours of the morning with, whom he'd get to kiss whenever and wherever he wanted. In his eyes, he'd won today. 

* * *

**A/N: **University Challenge is a TV show where teams from universities in the UK compete in an academic quiz in knockout rounds until one team is crowned the winner. I don't know if anyone outside the UK is familiar with it. The questions asked on the show aren't easy and the students competing are extremely intelligent. The questions used in the story are past questions from the show.

The universities (and the colleges of them) Kurt and Blaine are students of in the story were the schools that got through to the final in this year's competition. However, Cambridge actually won the competition - don't ask me why I made Oxford win here; Blaine just seemed more of an Oxford kinda guy.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed :)


	2. Chapter 2

"The Navier-Stokes equation governs the behavior of what form of matter?"

The three other members of the Oxford team turned to look at Blaine. They all expected him to know the answer. It had only been a mere two weeks ago that he'd talked to them about this very subject. The problem was, the answer was nowhere to be found in his head.

Digging the heel of his hand into the centre of his forehead, Blaine willed the fact to surface. He squeezed his eyes shut as he strained to remember, the process of racking his brains seeming to take physical exertion as well as mental. For some infuriating reason, he just couldn't remember. Normally he had an excellent memory – it was one of the reasons he excelled at his academic studies – but facts still sometimes evaded him. He just wished that now hadn't been the moment for a memory relapse.

As he fought with his uncooperative memory, a member from the opposing team buzzed in.

"Fluids," a familiar voice called.

Despite his frustration at being unable to recall something he knew, Blaine couldn't help but smile. Of course Kurt would get the answer if he couldn't.

The Cambridge team cheered while Blaine's teammates groaned, drowning out the sound of the question master calling the end of the competition. Kurt's answer had pushed Cambridge out of their tie-break to win the competition.

The competition announcer declared the Cambridge team to be the winners and Blaine let out a tiny sigh of disappointment, inaudible over the cheers and applauding of Cambridge and their supporters.

"We can't win them all, I guess," Ryan said gloomily. Blaine's teammate was slumped in his chair, a tiny, weak smile on his face as he watched Cambridge celebrate.

Blaine hummed in agreement, his disappointment at losing and frustration with himself fast disappearing as, across a short stretch of grass from him, Kurt smiled and laughed in delight. He stood up and crossed over to congratulate his boyfriend. As he walked he could feel the eyes of his teammates on his back. He knew they didn't exactly approve of his relationship with Kurt – sleeping with the enemy, they called it. He called it true love.

Kurt saw him coming. He turned away from the teammate he was talking to, his smile taking on a new edge as he met Blaine's eyes.

"So," he said when Blaine was only a few feet away. "I beat you."

Blaine couldn't help but smile wider; he knew where this was going. "You beat me," he confirmed.

Kurt's smirk lifted the corners of his mouth higher, making his eyes narrow. "We all know what it does to you when that happens." Smugness radiated off him, he was almost bouncing on the balls of his feet with it. He took a slow step towards Blaine. "You should be annoyed at me for buzzing in before you could remember the answer, you should be jealous that I got there first and won, and you should probably be in a sulky mood with me for at least twenty-four hours until you realise I am more important than some silly little quiz competition. But you're not." He'd moved closer to Blaine, close enough that Blaine could just tilt forward on his toes and kiss him. Blaine waited and listened.

Kurt lowered his voice to a volume only Blaine could hear. "Instead, you kiss me a lot, growl about how smart I am and how hot it is when I get the answer before you, and you tear off my clothes." He leaned forward to whisper in Blaine's ear. "Which is why I work my ass off to beat you."

Grabbing blindly at Kurt's shirt, Blaine pulled Kurt in for a hard kiss, his lips colliding with the corner of Kurt's mouth. Pressing closer, he tilted his head and sealed his mouth over Kurt's. Hand caressing Blaine's arm, Kurt hummed in satisfied appreciation.

They broke apart to catcalls and laughter from Kurt's teammates and supporters from the university. Kurt waved them away.

"I deserved that congratulatory kiss!"

Blaine smiled up at him. "You did." He pecked Kurt on the lips. "You really did."

When people heard that Blaine and Kurt, rival _University Challenge_ team captains, were dating, they all immediately assumed that would be the end of their quiz championship titles. Most people presumed they would be unable to compete against each other and would deliberately hold back to avoid upsetting the other, and as Cambridge and Oxford were rivals so frequently, it would be the downfall of their respective university's quiz teams. It wouldn't have really been a particularly big problem if that had been the case. As past competitors, they were unable to be a member of the next year's _University Challenge_ team, but they were both mentoring the currently competing teams for their universities and some worried their relationship would interfere with this. Even now, seven months on from the final of the last _University Challenge_ and a few months into the new competition series, a few people still thought it was wrong that they were together. Then again, they knew neither of Kurt and Blaine's competition between themselves over the _University Challenge_ teams they were assisting, nor the one between the two of them at each quiz they were rivals at.

Kurt and Blaine moved away from the still-celebrating team and walked slowly across the gardens where the competition was being held. Now that they were both in the middle of studying for their Masters, the desire to celebrate after each win at a quiz or competition was low, especially at small events such as this one, which was more of a friendly competition than anything.

The shouting and laughter of the crowds behind them soon faded away, allowing the pleasant sounds of their feet on the grass and the soft twittering of birds to be heard. Kurt slid his hand into Blaine's, swinging their clasped hands gently between them as they walked.

"Coffee?" Kurt asked as they neared a couple of narrow pathways leading off the university campus and onto the surrounding streets.

Blaine nodded, his spirits lifting at the thought of them enjoying their own private little celebration of Kurt's win. "Sure," he replied. "I'm assuming you know somewhere good," he added as they walked off campus and emerged out on a street with one or two café's on it. Despite visiting the university a few times, he wasn't all too familiar with Cambridge itself.

Kurt was already tugging him purposefully down the road. "I know somewhere that does really good coffee and the _best_ cupcakes."

Blaine smiled; it sounded exactly like what he'd had in mind.

As they waited at some traffic lights to cross the road, Kurt looked over at Blaine. "You're still staying tonight, aren't you?"

Blaine nodded again. "I don't have to be back in Oxford until Thursday, so I can stay until tomorrow afternoon."

Kurt beamed at him. "And you're staying at my place, right? I told my roommates that you're coming and they promised to make themselves scarce for most of the evening." He paused for a moment as they started to cross the road. "Unless you wanted to go out?"

Blaine thought for a moment. "Nah, we're cash-strapped students. I'll cook for you."

Steering Blaine down a side street, Kurt leaned in to kiss his cheek. "You're the best!"

The coffee shop was one of a franchise chain, but according to Kurt, the baristas were excellent and the owner had been selling his own homemade cupcakes for years, making the café extremely popular with locals. True to his word, the café was bustling when they walked in, the couches by the front windows and most of the surrounding tables taken by people drinking teas and coffees. Three baristas were busy behind the counter, serving the line of customers that snaked past the glass-fronted bakery cabinet. Kurt and Blaine joined the end of the line, both of them looking up at the menu boards contemplatively.

"I think I'll just get my usual," Kurt announced musingly. They shuffled forward, coming to a stop at the end of the bakery cabinet where they could see the display of assorted cupcakes.

"And I'll get you a cupcake to celebrate your win," Blaine said brightly, running his gaze over the different cakes. His eyes lit upon the perfect one. "How about the one with the little gold stars on it?"

Smiling, Kurt leaned closer to the glass to read the label in front of it. "Red velvet – yum."

When they reached the front of the line to order and pay, Blaine told the barista what they wanted and handed over some money before Kurt could reach for his wallet.

Kurt shook his head at him. "You paid last time."

Shoving his wallet back in his pocket, Blaine shrugged. "Yeah, but this is my treat for your win."

They squeezed their way through to one of the few remaining tables towards the back of the coffee shop, sitting down in armchairs opposite each other. Once they were settled and had their drinks in front of them, Blaine lifted his coffee aloft.

"I think a toast is in order for one Mr. Kurt Hummel."

Kurt shook his head, his smile betraying his amusement. "Blaine."

Tipping his cup towards Kurt, Blaine raised his eyebrows. "To Kurt: conqueror of the demanding Oxbridge quiz!" He took a drink of his coffee.

"Dork," Kurt said fondly. He stretched out a hand across the table, making grabby gestures at the plate with his cupcake on it. "Do I get my cupcake now?"

Blaine smiled. "Of course." He set the little cake down in front of Kurt with a flourish. "The winner's prize."

Kurt picked one of the golden stars off the top of the cake and held it out to Blaine. "Here's a star for coming in second place."

"And here was me thinking it was for always being your star," Blaine sighed, accepting the icing star with a look of mock disappointment.

Licking the smear of frosting off his fingers, Kurt grinned at him, making Blaine's belly warm with a pleasant, gentle heat.

It was always like this with Kurt: easy, carefree, as comfortable as being around someone he'd known for years. Though their first meeting and subsequent first date had been a bit sticky with nerves, both occasions had quickly settled into something that felt as right and simple as purely existing.

While their initial meeting had been nerve-wracking because of the admission of long-hidden feelings, their first date had Blaine in a nervous wreck because he didn't want to lose Kurt before he'd ever really had him. It was during this date, however, that their penchant for little competitions against each other had begun.

After agreeing on a day and deciding to go into London for their date, Blaine spent countless hours trying to plan the perfect date. He wrote lists of possible things they could do and spent hours researching each possibility. He drove his roommates crazy talking about it, but eventually he managed to narrow his list of ideas, bouncing around between something traditional and safe like dinner and a movie, something romantic like a picnic in Hyde Park, or something a bit different like visiting the London Dungeons. In the end it was an exasperated roommate telling him to stop overthinking and go with his instinct that he decided on where he would take Kurt: dinner and the British Museum.

On the days preceding their date he'd been rather proud of himself for thinking of something that was a mix of both the traditional and the different. He wasn't risking the dejection of going to see a movie Kurt may not like, of awkward silences when they couldn't find something to talk about, of Kurt not liking where they were, or worse, being bored. To be on a university quiz team and succeed at _University Challenge_, you had to be genuinely interested in subjects such as history, literature, and art; it would be extremely difficult otherwise to find the drive to learn and study all the knowledge over hundreds of topics in preparation for the competition, most of which wouldn't even be needed. Blaine knew Kurt shared his passion for learning, understanding, and history; the museum would be a perfect place for a date. They would learn, never run out of things to talk about, and enjoy themselves, he was sure of it.

It wasn't until the night before their date that the nerves kicked in. Blaine had been looking through his closet, trying to pick out the perfect outfit, when the fear that a trip to the museum was far too nerdy. Going on a date was supposed to be fun and all about getting to know the other person – why had he thought a museum would be a suitable location for that? What if Kurt found it boring? Or thought _he_ was boring; someone who had no life outside of learning and studying? _He_ maybe thought a museum was an enjoyable, fascinating day out, but what if Kurt got enough of that sort of thing at university and preferred his down time to be less intellectually stimulating?

He had started considering changing his plans to a movie instead, but it had been too late to start researching movies, theatres, and show times. Blaine was a very organised person who liked to have everything planned and sorted well in advance to feel comfortable, a last minute change to plans for something as important as his first date with Kurt wasn't feasible. He'd had no choice but to stick with his original plans.

He was sweating when he arrived at the train station in London to meet Kurt. At first his worries were entirely over how Kurt would feel about going to a museum for a date; however, as their meeting time grew closer he started stressing over whether Kurt would actually show up. His stomach twisted up into a sickening knot – what if Kurt had only been pacifying him when he had agreed to go on a date? Or worse, what if he was having him on and was currently sitting back in Cambridge, laughing at his stupidity?

He searched the crowds inside the station again and again, scanning every face for Kurt. The time ticked by dreadfully slowly and his heart raced on faster and faster, his palms clammy, his stomach knotting and unknotting itself.

The relief he felt when he spotted Kurt's face felt like someone had spooned the liquid emotion into his mouth where it had trickled down his throat and spilled warmth through his insides. He smiled as Kurt neared him.

"Hi," Kurt greeted breathlessly when he was close. He hesitated and there was a brief prickle of awkwardness between them, before he stepped forward and hugged Blaine. "Sorry I'm a little late – my train got held outside the station. Have you been waiting long?"

Giving Kurt a gentle squeeze, Blaine stepped back, dropping his arms from Kurt's back. He shook his head, too happy and relieved to remember if he had been waiting a while. "Not long. How've you been?" He indicated with a small wave of his hand that they should start walking.

"Good," Kurt replied, smoothly dodging a harried looking man running for a train. "One of the girls who was on the _University Challenge_ team with me – Laura – wanted to go over everything we did wrong in the final and make notes for next year's team, but she was outvoted." Kurt rolled his eyes. "It's not like you guys absolutely hammered us – we only lost by one question!"

Blaine stepped closer to Kurt to stop them becoming separated by a group of people dragging suitcases behind them. "She must be pretty competitive."

"Well, so am I, but even a competitive person has to accept defeat some times."

They headed out of the station and into the dazzling sunlight, the loud chatter of voices and announcements being replaced by the droning of car engines and squealing of brakes.

Kurt turned to Blaine as they walked up the busy street. "So, where are we going? Or is it still a secret?"

Opening his mouth, Blaine hesitated. He wasn't sure if it was better to tell Kurt where they were going now and give him the chance to change his plans if he didn't look particularly impressed, or to wait until they got to the museum and surprise him, as he'd originally planned. He closed his mouth again.

"You'll see when we get there," he said as lightly as he could, hoping he sounded teasing and not nervous. "It's not far," he added as they stopped to wait to cross a road choked with London traffic, a mixture of mostly red buses, black cabs, vans, and sleek cars chauffeuring businessmen.

Kurt didn't guess where they were going until they were standing right in front of the museum's doors.

"The museum?" he asked in surprise. His voice was lifted in surprise, not at all sounding disappointed or as though he were wishing he never came. "We're going to the _museum?_"

"Um, yeah." Blaine anxiously watched Kurt examine the grand entrance to the building, searching his face for any hints that he would rather go somewhere else. However, Kurt's forehead was smooth of frown lines and his eyes were bright and intrigued as he read the sign by the door advertising some new display the museum had. There was no listless slump to his shoulders or resigned dullness to his gaze. He had clearly not been expecting to visit a museum today, but as far as Blaine could tell, Kurt didn't see this as a bad thing.

Straightening his shoulders, Blaine smiled at Kurt. "I wanted to do something a little different," he said. Before Kurt could do more than turn to look at him, he took hold of his hand and gently tugged him towards the doors. "Let's go."

Blaine's taunt nerves didn't begin to loosen up until they had gone through the first exhibit and had moved in to another room. As they had moved through the first area of displays, he'd been stressing over whether Kurt's noises of interest and comments on the artifacts were genuine or faked to make Blaine feel better. It was only as they examined more artifacts and Kurt said even more about various ones that Blaine began to think that maybe, just maybe, Kurt was truly enjoying himself.

They spent a long time looking at an Egyptian cat sculpture, carved from bronze and decorated with gold rings. They stood close together to read the description board beside the display. After a minute or two, Kurt cocked his head to one side, a contemplative look on his face.

"You know, the cat goddess Bast represented protection, fertility, and motherhood," he said, his eyes still fixed on the display.

Blaine nodded slowly; he remembered reading about that in a book he'd taken out from the local library a few years back. "The Egyptians supposedly mourned the death of a cat as if they were a human relative," he said, remembering more from that book. "Sometimes, they shaved their eyebrows to signify their loss."

Looking up from the display, Kurt blinked at him, his expression difficult to read – until the smallest of smirks quirked a corner of his mouth.

"Egyptian woman often wore amulets depicting cats with kittens in a prayer to Bast to have as many children as there were kittens on the amulet," he responded lightly, the smirking corner of his mouth twitching, his eyes twinkling with teasing challenge.

Blaine narrowed his eyes at him; he knew exactly what Kurt was doing. Unable to stop the amused smile from spreading across his face, he moved towards the next display, glancing back at Kurt casually over his shoulder.

"Bast means 'she of the ointment jar'; named for her soothing and peaceful nature," he said. If Kurt wanted a trivia challenge, then that's what he'd get, and Blaine would fight him for the last fact.

Kurt was no longer attempting to hide his cocky smile when he joined Blaine by the next glass display case. They examined the artifact silently for a moment: a necklace with tiny charms in the shapes of lizards and flies.

"The Egyptians saw lizards as a symbol of regeneration because of their ability to re-grow wounded limbs," Blaine said.

"The fly was seen as a symbol of persistence."

"Lizards were thought to be manifestations of the sun-God, Atum."

Their personal competition continued between them as they made their way through the rest of the museum. Blaine's worries about his choice of location for their date disappeared in the wake of the incessant, little-known facts they fired at each other. It was impossible for him to worry when he was searching through his memory for anything interesting or unusual he knew about Victorian London, the Ancient Egyptians, or World War I. Kurt may have confidently started their little competition, but Blaine was determined to be crowned the champion of Museum Trivia.

When they reached the section of the museum dedicated to the Ancient Greeks, Blaine's face lit up with triumphant delight. He knew scores of random, mostly useless facts about them. He'd read a few chapters in a book on Greek mythology while preparing for _University Challenge_ and had become extremely interested, filled with a desire to learn more. The day after reading the chapters he'd gone to the library on campus where he knew he wouldn't be disturbed and had spent a good part of the day on the internet reading more and more about the Ancient Greeks. There was no way Kurt knew as much as he did. This competition would go to him.

Biting his lip in a vain attempt to hold back the smug smile trying to take over his face, Blaine pulled a bunch of facts to the forefront of his mind and held them there, waiting for Kurt to go first.

They reached the first display and examined it side-by-side.

"Although most athletes in Ancient Greece were male, girls ran at Olympia games in Sparta," Kurt stated matter-of-factly.

Smirking, Blaine let his tidal wave of facts pour out of his mouth.

"The word 'music' derives from the names of daughters of Zeus who were patron goddesses of the arts.

"In Greek mythology the men often had male lovers as a symbol of their masculinity and warriorship.

"A playwright called Sophocles developed irony."

Kurt managed to slip in one or two statements of his own, but his words were lost in the shear amount Blaine knew on this particular subject. Giving up, Kurt stopped by a large vase depicting a story from Greek mythology, shaking his head in awe at how much Blaine knew about the Ancient Greeks.

Blaine glanced at the display Kurt was beside and opened his mouth to say something about it, but before he could get the words out, Kurt grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him.

Caught by surprise, Blaine stumbled backwards a step, his hands floundering in the air until he rested them on Kurt's face, cupping his cheeks. They broke the kiss a moment later with a soft smacking sound, and Blaine was left staring speechlessly at Kurt, all thoughts of Ancient Greece sunken back into the depths of his mind.

"Um," Blaine said stupidly.

Smiling, Kurt placed his index finger against Blaine's lips. "Shh… You know too much." He took his hand away from Blaine's mouth.

"So, did I win?" Blaine asked, still feeling a little dazed, the fizzing aftershocks of the kiss buzzing in his veins.

Walking towards the next display, Kurt smirked at him over his shoulder. "Win what?"

Blaine shook his head at Kurt as he laughed. He caught up with him, standing behind him and placing one hand on either side of his waist, giving him a gentle squeeze. "I definitely won," he said.

Kurt bumped him with his hip as Blaine moved to stand next to him. "This time," he conceded. 

* * *

**A/N: **Odellcriss asked if I could write another part to this story featuring their first date and as this Kurt and Blaine were still hanging around in my head, I happily agreed. It turned out more adorably dorky than I originally intended, but I hope you all like it :)

Thanks for reading!


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